A fair, clean fight, but stiff and lifeless too.
While it's become standard practice for companies like Capcom to re-release fighting games with patches, additions, and a new subtitle, SEGA is now following this trend by re-releasing
Virtua Fighter 5, one of the earlier games of this generation that hasn't seen an release on consoles in years. Repackaged as a downloadable title, this 'Final Showdown' version released two years ago in Japan rebalances and tweaks various aspects of what some consider to be a top-notch fighting game.
Unfortunately for
Virtua Fighter, there isn't much new content to begin with in its fifth installment, and not much has been added in here, either. There are 19 playable fighters, with one being brought back from an older entry and only a single character being genuinely new to the series, making for only two extra characters. Granted, this is in a downloadable format, cheaper than the disc releases, so it's a little more passable, but I would make the argument that the recently released
Skullgirls with only half of the cast count has a much more interesting, energy-infused roster of characters to pick from.
Virtua Fighter 5's characters are so flat that they feel like cardboard cutouts that happen to be hitting each other. They hardly speak, their faces don't animate much, their designs are generic, and they don't even have character endings when the Arcade Mode is finished. While I don't believe a fighting game needs a story to be interesting, it should at least have engaging, lively characters, since those are the key focal point of the presentation. As it stands,
Virtua Fighter 5 sports some smooth body animation and its music and environments (including some new arenas) come together fine, but bland character designs and woefully outdated sound effects from mid-'90s arcade machines don't mesh together well.
People who come into this experience not caring so much about those aspects will potentially be pleased with what has made the series last until a fifth entry: the fast, fluid combat. A playthrough of the relatively effective tutorial and a look at the command list will quickly make newcomers realize that there is a lot of depth and technical finesse involved. Timing, input, and reactions are what this title's really about, to the point where even 'teching' grabs (escaping them) involves not only a button press but simultaneously moving in the same direction the attacker is trying to throw you in. If that sounds like a mouthful, then this probably isn't the fighting game for you.
Aside from the tutorial and basic Arcade and Time Attack fare, there's actually not much else here. A 'Title' mode can liven things up for a little while, forcing players to work through small gauntlets of fisticuffs while accomplishing certain tasks, all without losing a match in the process, of course. The player's 'Title' is moved up a grade as these challenges are completed.
There is a customization element to the game, but from what I could tell, old outfits and appearance elements are all currently locked out until they can be pushed via DLC – I'm willing to bet for a price. It's one thing to lock content out of the gate and charge for it, which is obviously a rough topic, but it's entirely another to actively remove content that originally existed in a supposedly enhanced version, only to charge separately for something that could originally be unlocked by playing the game.
As for its online offerings, the game features some enhanced functionality, with eight-player lobbies and replay saving. Assuming that the game features relatively lag-free online, the dedicated players who care more about the raw, unadulterated pacing of a technical fighter have a fine-tuned and rebalanced game to enjoy. People wanting to chew into a deeper, more complicated fighting game may find the $15 price point and smaller cast of characters and modes to be an effective step up from the rest of the fighting game chaff.
This rendition of SEGA's aged fighting franchise doesn't bring that much new to the table. Dedicated fans of the genre who maybe have gotten tired of the madness of
Marvel vs. Capcom or other more crazy modern fighting games might appreciate this slightly enhanced and tweaked technical fighter. Most others, I'm afraid
—myself include
d—probably won't find much to invest here.
Code provided by publisher. Review based on Xbox 360 version.
danielrbischoff
Joined: Nov 2009
This doesn't seem like that game though.
ballabert
Joined: Jul 2011
PS I'm taking all challengers (PSN)
Whatisalee
Joined: Jun 2012
XBLA imposes a 2GB limit for downloadable games. Content -- in this case, costumes -- was not included because of this restriction. For consistency, the PSN version also suffers from this. For what it's worth, costumes are inconsequential to the gameplay -- unlike character DLC.
This would also explain the lack of modes. But regardless, I argue that the most important modes are there: a 'command training' with demos; a robust 'free training' mode; a tutorial that most fighting games need; and an online with lobbies/ranked and what appears to be a great netcode.
On a more personal note, this is where you would find the life of the game:
Whatisalee
Joined: Jun 2012
AnimalStaccato
Joined: Jun 2012
The game is not about inputs or timing. It is about Yomi (guessing what your opponent will do next) and THEN reacting. It's like actual fighting.
The games customization DLC is DLC because the original game only just makes the XBL size limit of 2GB for arcade games. Why couldn't you look that up? Surely that's some fairly basic research and as a professional journalist you ARE researching your articles aren't you?
AnimalStaccato
Joined: Jun 2012
RockyJ
Joined: Jun 2012
Maybe ya should actually try playing the game with other players, get into the heat of the competition, instead of complaining about characters not looking super flashy and anime like.